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POLITICAL CRISIS. 



THE 



POLITICAL CRISIS. 



BY GEO. L. PKENTISS, D.D., NEW YORK. 



REPRINTED FROM THE "AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN AND THEOLOGICAL REVIEW," 
FOR OCTOBER, 1868. 



F. S M E R S , 211 CENTRE STREET. 
1866. 






rtl.r 



IN EXCHANGE 



T £1 E 



POLITICAL CRISIS, 



In closing an article on the Political Situation, in the April 
number of this Review, we expressed our fervent hope " that 
Congress and the President might soon come to see eye to eye, 
and agree upon a joint policy Avhich should be, like the wis- 
dom from above, first pure, then peaceable, fall of mercy and 
good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." 

We need not say how grievously this hope has been disap- 
pointed. The differences, which six months ago seemed not 
incapable of being reconciled, have since widened into an im- 
passable chasm. The Executive and Legislative departments 
of the Government are arrayed against each other in open 
and determined conflict. Both have appealed to the country^ 
and already the popular verdict has begun to utter itself. The 
nation is in the midst of a political crisis as momentous as any 
it has ever known. We propose to take a brief survey' of the 
contest, and of the issues involved in it. 

In our previous article we traced the President's policy 
down to the veto of the Civil Rights Bill. His message re- 
turning that bill left but little ground of hope that he would 
approve of any plan of restoration, which tlie wisdom of the 
National Legislature might devise. Everything, indeed, indi- 
cated that his mind was fully set in him to have his own way, 
in total disregard of the law-making power ; and that his own 
wav was to admit the States lately in insurrection to all their 



THE POLITrCAL CRISIS. 



old rights and privileges, and to increased power in the Gov- 
ernment, loithout any further conditions or guarantees loJiatever. 
He declared them (with the exception of Texas) to be already 
reconstructed, and as completely entitled to representation in 
either house of Congress as New York or Ohio. He had 
said, it is true, that they must present themselves "iw an atti. 
tude of loyaltij " as well as " in the persons of loyal representa- 
tives." But as he evidently considered himself the sole judge 
of the first qualification, and loudly proclaimed their loyalty to 
be unimpeachable,* it only remained for Congress to look 
into the second. But here, again, there was anirreconcileable 
difference between the two branches of the Government. The 
word "loyal" was used by the President in a peculiar sense. 
He meant by it, as is now perfectly clear, anybody who, hav- 
ing been amnestied, or pardoned, professed approval of his 
" policy ;" and this executive test Mayor Monroe, of New Or- 
leans, or one of his " Thugs," could stand quite as well as Gov. 
Parsons and Gov. Orr. The Congressional test of a "loyal 
representative," on the other hand, was his ability to take the 
oath of office prescribed by the Constitution and the law of 
the land.t This oath, both in its letter and spirit, is in utter 

* '-They (the late rebel States) are one and all in an attitude of loyalty to- 
wards the Government, and of sworn allesiance to the Constitution of the 
United States. In no one of them is there the slightest indication of resistance 
to this authority, or the slightest protest against its just and binding obligation. 
This condition of renewed loyalty has been officially recognized by solemn proc- 
lamation of the Executive department."— ^c/cZress of the Philadelphia Johnson 
Qonventl'in. 

t The oath is as follows : " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have never 
voluntarily borne arms against the United States since I have been a citizen 
thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encour- 
agement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto ; that I have neither 
sought nor accepted, nor attempted to exorcise the functions of any office what- 
ever, under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the United 
States ; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended govern- 
ment, authority, power, or Constitution within the United States, hostile or in- 
imical thereto. And I do further swear (or affirm) that, to the best of my know- 
ledge and ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, 
against all enemies, foreign and domestic ; that I will bear true faith and alle- 
giance to the same ; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental 



THE rOLlTICAL CRISIS. 5 

antagonism to the policy of Mr. Jolinson. Probabl}' not lialf- 
a-dozen of all the claimants of seats from the South can 
take it without committing perjury ; and yet not a single one 
of these claimants but is an enthusiastic supporter of the Pres- 
ident ; nor is there any reason to think that a single one of 
them all is regarded by him as disqualified to sit in the halis 
of National Legislation. How, then, can any loyal mun be 
surprised that tlie breach between Congress and tlic Execu- 
tive was not healed? It could have been healed only by the 
former consenting to abandon the whole question of recon- 
struction to the discretion of Mr. Johnson, to abdicate to this 
end its functions as the supreme law-making power of the Na- 
tion, and to admit to seats on its floor men whose hearts and 
lips were still envenomed with disloyalt}^ provided only they 
brought in their hands the pardon, and praised the " policy," 
of the Executive I Some have alleged, we are aware, that if 
Congress, early in the session, had decided upon the plan ul- 
timately adopted, the President would, probabl}^ have given 
it his approval ; for he had again and again expressed himself 
as in favor of every one of its principles. "We cannot concur 
in this opinion. We are constrained to believe that Mr. John- 
son had alread}' made up his mind not to agree with Congress, 
except on the condition of its first yielding to him all the vital 
points in controversy. If there were no other evidence of 
this, his speeches, and those of his Secretary of State, during 

rpservation or purpose of CTasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge 
the duties of the ofiBce on which I am about to enter, so help me God." 

"And why (it may beaded) did not Congress admit the few claimants who 
could honestly take this oath ?"' We reply, because it would have been a virtual 
abandonment of the vitil point in dispute ; it would have been giving up to the 
«nemy the key to the whole position. Congress maintained the ground that no 
insurrectionary State was entitled to representation in either house of the Na- 
tional Legislature, until, as a State, it gave adequate guarantees that it had 
abandoned the principles of the rebellion, and would henceforth abide by the 
amended Constitution, the Union, and the obligations of honor and justice con- 
tracted by the nation in putting down the rebellion. So long as such guaran- 
tees were not given, Congress would have stwltiQed itself in admitting any man, 
however loyal ; and so Horace Maynard. Senator Fowler, and Col. Stokea, the 
tried loyalists claiming seats from Tennessee, frankly acknowledged. 



6 THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 

their late electioneering tour to the grave of Douglas, 
leave no doubt on the subject. Whatever may have been 
thought before, we are at a loss to understand how anybody, 
after reading these extraordinary effusions, can suppose for a 
moment that the dilatory action of Congress, or the " white- 
washing " epithet of Mr. Sumner, or even the sarcasms of that 
extremely " radical" but sturdy and whole-souled old patriot, 
Thaddeus Stevens, led Mr. Johnson to abandon the loyal cause. 
Is it not, alas ! too plain that he had deserted it already in his 
heart ; and that these things so ojdfended him, because they 
helped to betray the fearful secret to the watchful eye of the 
country ? 

We are not disposed, therefore, to censure Congress for 
having delayed so long to decide upon a plan of reconstruc- 
tion. This delay was highly salutary and needful. The task 
was one of the most difficult ever assigned to a legislative 
body. And for three months after Congress met, the country 
was far from being in the mood to break with the President 
and stand up in solid phalanx for its loyal Senators and Rep- 
resentatives. Thousands of patriotic and thoughtful citizens, 
who in July last were in full sympathy with Congress, in De- 
cember, 1865, or even in February, 1866 — at least before the 
22d of that month — would have taken sides with the Execu- 
tive ; of this no other proof is needed than the memorable 
Cooper Institute meeting on the evening of Washington's 
birthday. So the final rupture came, probably, at the best 
time ; neither too soon nor too late. It came just when public 
sentiment was ripe for the great issue. Instead of blaming 
Congress for not sooner agreeing upon a policy, we rather 
praise it for its wise delay. The policy was thus made far 
more perfect, and popular opinion was prepared to give it a 
much heartier and more intelligent support. However desir- 
able it might have been to hasten the work of restoration, it 
was vastly more desirable that the work should be done well 
than done quickly. It is a thousand times better that the 
States lately in rebellion should be admitted in the right way one 
or two years hence, than that they should be admitted at once, 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 7 

or should have been admitted last winter, in a way dangerous 
to the future peace and safety of the country, or inconsistent 
with national honor and justice. And it seems to us IJiat the 
future peace and safety of the Union, and not less the claims 
of honor and justice, are admirably provided for by the plan of 
settlement finally adopted by Congress. This plan is con- 
tained in a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the 
Constitution. It is as follows : 

JOINT RESOLUTION PROPOSINQ AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITCTION 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Be it enacted by (he Senate and House of Representative!; of the United Stales 
of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of both Houses concurring), 
that the following article he proposed to the Legislatures of the several 
States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, 
when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid as part 
of the Constitution, namely : 

ARTICLE XIV. — Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the 
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
United States, and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make 
or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of 
citizens of the United States ; nor shall any State deprive any person of 
life, liberty or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any 
person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Sec. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States, 
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of 
persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right 
to vote at any election for the choice of Electors for President and Vice- 
President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the execu- 
tive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature 
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being 
twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United States, or in any way 
abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, tiie basis 
of representation therein shall be reduced in proportion which the num- 
ber of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens 
twenty-one j-ears of age in such State. 

Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or 
elector of President or Vice-President, or hold any office, i ivil or mili- 
tary, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previous- 
ly taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United 
States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judi- 



8 THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 

cial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, 
shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given 
aid and comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote 
of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. 

Sec. 4. The vahdity of the public debt of the United States, authorized 
by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties 
for services in suppressing insurrection and rebellion, shall not be ques- 
tioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay 
any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against 
the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave ; 
but all such debts, obligations or claims, shall be held illegal and void. 

Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate leg- 
islation, the provisions of this Article. 

This amendment speaks for itself and requires no interpre- 
ter. It is well entitled to the place in our American llagna 
Charta, which w^e trust it will soon occupy beside the great 
Amendment proposed by the Thirt}- -Eighth Congress.* The 
more it is pondered, the more will it commend itself to the 
reason and conscience of the Nation as an eminently wise, just, 
and magnanimous basis for the settlement of the questions 
arising out of the rebellion. It is, surely, the very embodi- 
ment of national leniency and moderation, containing nothing 
vindictive, nothing harsh, even. Indeed, the only plausible 
ground of complaint against it is its extreme mildness. 
"Where do the records of history afford another instance of a 
great and high-spirited nation dealing with a conquered re- 
bellion, which had assailed and almost destroyed its life, on 
terms so considerate and merciful ? Let us for a moment ex- 
amine these terms. Let us look at this ultimatum of Congres- 
sional "Radicalism." 

Section 1 defines American citizenship, asserting this high 
privilege for the 4,000,000 of freedmen, and places it every- 
where, without respect of persons, under the benignant and 



* Article XIII. — Sec. 1. — Neither slavery nor involimtary servitude, except 
as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, 
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

Sec 2. — Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
legislation. 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 9 

august protection of tlie National Govcrnuiont. It is notliing 
else than a practical enforcement of the principles of the 
Declaration of Independence. When once part of the 
Constitution, the true measure of the civil rights of every 
American freeman, whatever his race or color, will be the su- 
preme law of the laud — the great law of our Rei)ublican Lib- 
erty—and not the mere good pleasure of South Carolina, Louis- 
iana, or any other State, whether in the North or South. 

Section 2 changes the basis of representation in Congress, 
and in the Electoral College, in accordance with the results of 
the war. Without this change the South would actually gain 
nine or ten members, while the North would lose ten. By 
this change the three-fifths rule ceases to operate, and the South, 
instead of gaining ten votes in consequence of rebellion, 
loses fourteen ; so that the practical effect would be a dilfer- 
euce of some thirty-four votes in Congress and in the Electoral 
College in favor of the North. And this is perfectly fair and just. 
The South cm at any time turn the balance in its own favor 
by giving the elective franchise to its colored citizen-^. But 
so long as it refuses to do this ; so long as it withholds the bal- 
lot from these four millions of its population on account of their 
color, it has no right to vote for them or to claim that it rep- 
resents them. This section, we repeat, is most just and rea- 
sonable, and the North will insist upon it at all hazards. It cer- 
tainly needs no argument to show that the vote of a 1 ite rebel 
in South Carolina, or Alabama, ought not to equal the vote of 
two loyal citizens of Miine or Iowa. 

Section 3 provides that tho^e who have added perjury to 
treason, in turning against the Union and adhering to its ene- 
mies, the leaders of the rebellion, shall be ineligible to any 
State or Federal office, until absolved by the people throu^^h 
a two-thirds vote of their Representatives in Congress. And 
this provision, it will be observed, not only puts a righteous 
stigma upon perjury and treason in the past, but holds out a 
solemn warning to all who in the future may be tempted to 
commit these crimes. Like the section following, it is in- 
tended to be a permanent law of the land, looking before 



10 THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 

and after. How entirely it haroionizes with the views of Mr. 
Johnson, as expressed in his speech " defining (to use his own 
Language) the grounds on which he accepted " the Baltimore 
nomination, and in his various addresses on assuming the Ex- 
ecutive reins, it is needless to remark ; although, to be sure, 
it falls ver}^ far short of the large scope and pitiless severity of 
his doctrine. If any one is disposed to question this 
statement, let him read the section again and then compare it 
with the following utterances of the President : 

"Treason against the Government is the highest crime that can be 
committed, and those engaged in it should suffer all its penalties.'' 
" They must not only be punished, but their social power must be de- 
stro3'ed." " I say that the traitor has ceased to be a citizen, and in join- 
ing the rebellion, has become a public enemy. He forfeited the right 
to vote with loyal men when he renounced his citizenship, and sought to 
destroy our Government." " After making treason odious, every Union 
man should be remunerated out of the pockets of those who have in- 
flicted this great suflering on the country." " Their leaders must feel 
the power of the Government. Treason must be made odious, and 
traitors must be punished and impoverished ; their great plantations 
must be seized, and divided into small farms, and sold to honest, indus- 
trious men." " \Vliy all this carnage and devastation? It was that 
treason might be put down, and traitors punished. Therefore, I say that 
traitors should take a back seat in the work of restoration. If there be 
but five thousand men in Tennessee loyal to the Constitution, loyal to 
freedom, loyal to justice, these true and faithful men should control the 
work of reorganization and reformation absolutely." 

Section 4 afBrms the validity of the National debt, and the 
illegality of all rebel debts and obligations, or claims for the 
loss or emancipation of slaves. We regard this section as of 
immeasurable importance. The repudiation of the rebel debt, 
it will be remembered, was one of the conditions of restora- 
tion laid down by the President himself. But that repudia- 
tion, even had it been made part of its new Constitution by 
every Southern State, would afford no sort of security to the 
country. It can itself be repudiated the moment the States 
are re-admitted. Moreover, it says nothing about claims for 
the loss or emancipation of slaves j nor does the Platform of 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 11 

i)f>". Jolinsoii's Philadelphia Convention. Should tlie South he 
restored without further conditions, we entertain no doubt 
that a formidable combination would at once be organized to 
bring about the assumption of the rebel debt, and the pay- 
ment of claims for the loss or emancipation of slaves, to say 
nothing of pensions for the Confederate soldiers. It has ever 
been to us a matter of unfeigned astonishment that the raon- 
ied capital of the North, so vitally interested in the public 
credit and national securities, should not have shown more 
alarm on this point. In our opinion the peril from this source 
can hardly be overestimated ; and we see no adequate pro- 
tection against it, except in an amendment to the Constitution. 
The South once restored, with a large increase of political 
power, would be a solid unit in favor of demanding compensa- 
tion for its slaves, if not the assumption of its war debt ; and 
with the aid of Northern allies hungering for place, who can 
be sure it would not succeed ? Such a combination as we 
have mentioned, with so immense a prize in view, could well 
afford to offer a million of dolhirs, if need be, for a vote ; and 
it is fearful to tliink what might, yea, what probably would 
be the effect of such coloss;d bribery! We should see a 
"Ring," whose vast magnitude, power, and turpitude, would 
utterly dwarf and put to shaine even tiiat which has so long 
preyed upon the property and morals of New York. 

Section 5 authorizes Congress to enforce the foregoing pro- 
visions by appropriate legislation. Brief as it is, this section 
contains an ample supply of Constitutional power to destroy 
the last vestige of the rebellion, to maintain the pubHc faith 
and credit, to protect Southern loyalty, whether of blacks or 
whites, and in due time to establish impartial tVeedom, order, 
and equal justice throughout the Union. 

Such is the plan of restoration devised by the patient, far- 
seeing, and patriotic wisdom of the National Legislature. The 
Amendment has been ratified already by New Hampshire, 
Connecticut, Tennessee, New Jersey and Oregon. We cannot 
doubt that it will be ratified by all the other Northern States, and 
by a sufficient number of Southern States to make it valid as part 



12 THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 

of the Constitution. Nor do we doubt that it will confer im- 
perishable honor upon its much-abused and calumniated 
authors — the faithful, fearless senators and representatives of 
the Thirty -ninth Congress. Compared witli the insane policy 
of Mr. Johnson, it appears to us as the fine gold of sober, pru- 
dent, and high-toned American statesmanship — such states- 
manship as sat in council in the renowned convention of 1787. 
We are aware that some who acknowledge the Amendment 
to be essentially just and reasonable, still deny the right of 
the National Legislature to make its ratification a condition 
precedent to the admission of the late rebel States to repre- 
sentation in Congress. They are willing it should be urged 
upon the acceptance of the South, but only in the way of 
" moral agitation." This is the ground taken by Rev. Henry 
Ward Beecher in the deplorable letter which shot such a pang 
of grief through the hearts of millions of his old friends, and 
made sc jubilant the hearts of millions of his old defaraers. 
It is the ground taken by other honored citizens, whose purity 
of motive and sincere devotion to their country are unques- 
tionable. But we cannot for a moment admit its validity. 
We yield nothing to these eminent men in our desire for a speedy 
and complete restoration of the Union. Nor are we willing to 
concede that our faith in the New Era, or in the beneficent 
and reconciling power of American and Christian ideas, is less 
strong than theirs. But this is not a mere question of "moral 
agitation ;" no more than was that of the adoption of the other 
great amendment abolishing slavery. Like that, it is pre-emi- 
nently a question of wise and practical statesmanship. It 
concerns not merely desirable things, but things absolutely 
vital to national honor, security and justice. Such, at least, is 
the deliberate conviction of mjn-iads of the most thoughtful, 
sober-minded, and conscientious patriots in the land. Such is 
the solemn conviction of the overwhelming majority of the 
men and women, who sustained the country through the war, 
both at home and in the field. Nor have they the least mis- 
giving as to the constitutional power, or the perfect historical 
and moral right of the American people, through their sena- 



THE POLITICAL CKISIS. 13 

tors and representatives in Con!:;reps assernbli'd, to require 
absent to the rip:hteous provisions of the proposed amend- 
ment on the part of the Lite revolted States, as a condition 
precedent to their sharinj^ ag-ain in tlie National Legislation 
and Government. No theory denying this power and right 
appears to them tenable ; neither that which asserts the Na- 
tion to be pledged to the late rebel States by its public decla- 
ration.'^ during the war ;* nor that of the transcendental and 
impeccable character of the States as States. This last doc- 
trine, especially, as it is preached in support of Mr. Johnson's 
policy, they find it hard patiently to endure ; the doctrine, 
we mean, that the Southern States could do no wrong and im- 
pair no right, or privilege, by the treason of the people and 
governments which constituted them States ; that they could 
not go out of the Union, and never were out, either in law, 
or in fact ; and that, therefore, they were fully entitled to 

* On this point we thinlj many have been misled by the language of the oft- 
cited resolution on the object of the war, passed by the two houses of Congress 
in July, ISGl, just after the battle of Bull Run. This resolution was a manifesto 
to the insurgent States, and was intended especially to allay their fears for the 
institution of Slavery. It embodied, no doubt, the loyal sentiment of the 
country at the time. But it seems to us that a most inordinate importance has 
been attached to it. It was passed by a Congress chosen before the war. It 
was no laiv. It did not bind the Executive, who never signed it, nor did it bind 
the next Congress chosen in the midst of the war and with exclusive reference 
to the new issues. When President Lincoln issued his Proclamation of Emanci- 
pation, the act was bitterly denounced as a violation of the letter and spirit of this 
Crittenden resolution ; it was " overthrowing or interfering with the rights and 
established institutions of those States." But Mr. Lincoln did not consider 
that he was violating any pledge which bound either him or the Nation, The 
same charge was brought against the 38th Congress, for proposing the amend- 
ment abolishing slavery ; it was an att'^mpt to '■ overthrow an established insti- 
tution, and impair the dignity, equality and rights" of the Southern States. But 
that noble Congress did not admit the charge to be just; nor did the loyal 
States who ratified that Great Amendment ; nor did President Johnson, when 
he required the rebellious States to ratify it also. The Crittenden Resolution 
had no legal or constitutional force when it was passed ; and it certainly has 
none now. Still, we see no real inconsistency between a vote for that resolu- 
tion and a vote for the Constitutional Amendment. The object of the latter is 
simply to secure the great object of the war as declared by the former, and to 
fulfill the pledges given by the Nation in its successful prosecution. 



14 THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 

representation in Congress, not only the instant the war ceased, 
but all throngh the rebellion — as fully entitled as Massachusetts 
or Illinois — and that to deny them this representation until they 
give to the Nation 'proijer guarantees of the loyalty of the people 
and governments which constitute them States, as also of its 
own future peace and safety — is an act uttei-ly unconstitutional, 
oppressive, and destructive of the Government.* The over- 
Avhelming majority of those who sustained the country through 
the war, we repeat it, regard this doctrine as a monstrous so- 
phism, repugnant alike to political reason, to fundamental 
principles of moral and social order, and to sound common 
sense. And their opinion of it seems to us entirely correct. 
No fine-spun metaphysical theory of State rights, or of the 
Constitution, can serve as a just and proper basis for the set- 
tlement of such novel, momentous, and eminently practical 
questions as have sprung out of the Slaveholders' rebellion. 
The founders of the Republic never anticipated the occasion 
for such a settlement ; just as little as they anticipated the 
breaking out, in 1861, of such a stupendous civil war ; and they 
made special provisions for the one as little as for the other. 
In conducting the war to a successful issue, the Nation was 
compelled to adapt itself to the unparalleled exigency by crea- 
ting, both on land and water, its own military precedents ; 
and it has the right to do a like thing in securing the 
fruits of its incomparable victory. When the Constitution 
and its own experience cast no sure light upon its " dim and 
perilous way," it mn?t seek light elsewhere. Following its 
own Heaven-inspired instincts, and taking counsel at the ora- 
cles of Eternal Truth, wh}' should it not create new political 
precedents in the interest of republican freedom, humanity 
and justice ? Has it not already done so in devising and 



* " It seems to us in the exercise of the calmest and most candid judgment 
we can bring to the subject, that such a claim, so inferred, involves as fatal an 
overthrow of the authority of the Constitution, and as complete a destruction 
of the Government and Union, as that which was sought to be effected by the 
States and people in armed insurrection against them both." — Address of Mr. 
Johnson's rhiladelphia Conven'ion. 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS, 15 

adopting the great Amendment? Nor liavo we any fear that 
such a course will lead it astray from the paths of a wi?e and 
genuine conservatism, or of Cliristian mercy and magnanim- 
ity. The loyal heart of the Nation is still disposed, as it has 
ever been, to the largest possible exercise of mercy and mag- 
nanimity towards those lately in arms against its life, that is 
consistent with the claims of public order, righteousness and 
good faith. It is afraid to exercise even the blessed quality 
of mercy at the expense of these sacred principles. And we 
believe the time is coming when even the South will fully un- 
derstand this ; when she will be willing to acknowledge that 
the great heart of the Nation, like the heart of its martyred 
President, was governed in its policy of restoration by no sen- 
timent inconsistent "with malice toward none, Avith charity 
to all." 

We have thus taken a brief view of the political crisis 
through which the country is passing ; and what we have said 
might, for the most part, have been written as well before 
the adjournment of Congress as now. But since that date, 
public events have occurred of the gravest import, and bear- 
ing directly upon our subject. The nation has been in the 
midst of a severe moral, as well as political crisis. Its patience, 
its self-command, and its holiest convictions, have been tried 
and tested as hardly ever before. It has seen the boundless 
patronage of the Executive prostituted to the work of intimi- 
dating and corrupting popular opinion TN-ith open and shame- 
less effrontery. Unscrupulous and ambitious, or disappointed, 
politicians, some of them veterans of half a century in the arts of 
party intrigue, and whose very names have become odious to 
the moral sense of the nation, have been seen conspiring to- 
gether to thwart the righteous will of the people, and to be- 
tray the cause of Loyalty and Freedom into the hands of its 
worst foes. Deeds of savage butchery have been perpetrated 
at mid-day, in one of the chief cities of the Union, and in the 
sight of the Flag of our country, which find no parallel this side 
of the Sepoy massacres in the dark places of Oriental hea- 



16 THE POLITICAL CEISIS. 

thendom ; and, to crown the horror, the Chief Magistrate of 
the RepubUc stands in such relations to them, both before 
and after, as to have impelled sober-minded. Christian citi- 
zens to turn deliberately to the Constitution and ponder, for 
the first time, the meaning of those " other Mgh crimes and 
misdemeanors'^ on impeachment for and conviction of which 
"the President .... shall be removed from office." 
(Art. II. Sect. 4.) 

And, as if this were not enough, the ear of the nation has 
been assailed, week after week, by denunciations of its Su- 
preme Legislature as a usurping, disunion body "hanging 
upon the vergeof the Governraent,'"'andby dark threats of a rival 
Congress to be made up of late rebels and their allies from 
" the other end of the line," as also of another civil war, to be 
carried on — not on Southern — but on Northern soil. Nor 
have such threats and denunciations been uttered by reckless 
politicians alone ; they have been scattered broadcast over 
the land, like so many fire-brands, arrows and death, by the 
lips of the Executive himself! Is it strange that these things 
have filled the public mind witli the deepest excitement and 
alarm? Is it strange that they have pressed, like an incubus, 
upon all loyal hearts, keeping thoughtful men and women awake 
at midnight? Is it strange that, in view of them, the tide of 
popular sentiment is running with such resistless might in the 
direction indicated by the Vermont and Maine elections ? 

It is not our purpose to discuss the New Orleans riot. The 
end of that dreadfulstory is not yet. The American people are 
still reading it ; and they require no interpreter and no ar- 
gument to explain to them its meaning, or to tell them who 
are the responsible and guilty authors of it. They have studied 
and compared the President's dispatches and every other dis- 
patch, whether in its mutilated or unmutilated form ; they 
have read Mr. Johnson's apology for the massacre in his speech 
at St. Louis ; they have pondered Gen. Baird's report, and 
will ponder every word of the Report of the Military Commis- 
sion when it sees the light. If any further evidence is need- 
ed, they will demand that it be taken the moment Congress 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 17 

shall assemble. And we are very mncli mistaken if they do 
not also demand in due time, and in a voice not to be trifled 
with, that in some way the crime should be punished and the 
matchless infamy of it washed off from the American name. In 
dismissing the subject, we content ourselves with putting on 
record a single extract from one of Gen. Sheridan's dispatches 
to Gen. Grant; simply begging our readers to compare the 
closing recommendation respecting Mayor Monroe with the 
dispatch, signed five or six weeks later by that Head 
Centre of the "Thugs," as still Mayor of New Orleans, 
lauding the President and his " policy," and supplicating him 
to return from St. Louis to the scat of Government by way of 
Louisiana : 

" The more information I obtaim of the affair of the 30th in this city, the 
more revolting it becomes. It was no riot. It was an absolute massacre by 
the police, irhich was not excelled in murderous cruelty by that of Fort Pillow. 
It was a MCRDKR which the Mayor and Police of the city perpetrated withoxii 
the shadow of a necessity. 

" Furthermore, I believe it was premeditated, and every indication points 
to this. I recommend the removal of this bad man." 

In passing from the New Orleans massacre to the Convention 
which met in Philadelphia on the 14th of August, we have no 
thought of casting wanton reproach upon that body. We shall 
not question that many of its members were actuated by honest 
and patriotic motives. Some of them are known to the whole 
country for their high personal worth, their eminence in pub- 
lic service, and their varied attainments; some of them, also, 
like the accomplished temporary chairman. Gen. Dix, for their 
honorable record during the war. We have no disposition to 
speak of such men otherwise than with respect. But the Phil- 
adelphia Convention did not originate with such men ; they 
were not its managers ; nor is their character any fair expo- 
nent of its real intent and purposes. Their aim was ver}- dif- 
ferent from the ultimate aim of the Washington and New York 
politicians, whose old, cunning brains and expert hands con- 
tri^ed and manipulated it; and some of them are, probably, 
already finding this out. The Convention was imposing in 



18 THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 

numbers and marked by extraordinary enthusiasm for Mr. John- 
son and his " policy," for itself and for the triumphs it was 
going to win ; it seemed to excite no enthusiasm, however, 
among the loyal and great-hearted people of Philadelphia. Its 
chief authors evidently thought " the order of exercises " a 
master-piece of adroit management; the country, on the other 
hand, was inclined to regard the whole thing, from the " arm- 
in-arm " farce at the opening to the closing scene in the White 
House at Washington, as a huge poHtical blunder. What, for 
example, could be less fitted to win the pubKc confidence and 
admiration than the frantic manoeuvres to keep out Mr. Val- 
landigham, Mr. Fernando Wood, and a Mr. Dean? Our 
noble Board of Health did not struggle with a more anxious 
and persistent zeal to keep the Asiatic cholera out of New 
York. And yet the entire country knew very well, that if all 
the members of the Convention, who sympathized with the 
principles represented so faithfully by these gentlemen, had 
been required to leave it, the whole concern would have 
suffered an instant collapse ; scarcely a Southern delegate 
would have remained, and the places of the larger portion of the 
Northern delegates would also have become vacant. It was 
beyond measure absurd to imagine that the clear and single 
eye of the American people could be deceived by such a bung- 
ling political trick. And then, what could be more unwise 
than to convert the Convention from an arena of honest public 
conference and discussion into a ridiculous dumb-show, by 
muzzling the lips of all the delegates, except the handful 
to whom special parts had been assigned ? The Address and 
Resolutions, although posterity will not, probably, consider 
them quite equal to the immortal work of the Convention of 
1787, or even as a" Second Declaration of Independence," (Pres- 
ident Johnson to the contrary notwithstanding), are yet writ- 
ten with skill and ability, as was to be expected from their 
author ; and in spite of much fatal error and sophistry, they 
assert also many most important truths ; but was it exactly 
kind and "magnanimous" to require the delegates from the 
late rebel confederacy to give their solemn assent and applause 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 19 

to doctrines, statements and pledges, which tlicir heart^^, 
if not their consciences, must have utterly refused to endorse?* 
Was not this imposing "degrading comJitions upon our 
Southern brelhren?" So it was regarded by the leading or- 
gans of public opinion at the South ; and accordingly, Avith a 
promptitude and frankness that did honor to their manhood, 
they repudiated with disdain the action of their delegates in 
committing the Southern people to such a creed and such 
sentiments. Had we space, it would be easy to cite pages of 
the most explicit testimony to this effect. Still, in spite of all 
these things, it must be admitted that the Philadelphia Con- 
vention was planned with no little skill, availed itself of every 
advantage thrown in its way by the cross-currents of public 
opinion, and for a time appeared to those, who looked merely at 
the surface, as not unlikely to succeed. But there were in- 
superable obstacles in the way of its success, and sagacious 
observers saw it to be so from the outset. It was essentially 
a movement in utter hostility to the loyal cause — an attempt 
to gratify personal ambitions and revenges by precipitating 
the process of National restoration on principles in direct con- 
flict with the very ideas which had led the country in triumph 
through the war ; and instead of being deceived, the peo- 
ple at a glance saw through the whole scheme, and were only 
kindled by it to fiery indignation. Thnt is the rock upon 
which the Johnson-Seward movement was doomecTto be wrecked 
and go to pieces. And this catastrophe was hastened and ren- 



* As e. g. the following Resolutions of the Platform : 

8. " While we rogard as utterly invalid and never to be assumed, or made of 
binding force, any obligation incurred or undertaken in making war against 
the United States, we hold the debt of the Nation to be sacred and inviolable, 
and we proclaim our purpose in discharging this, as in performing all other Na- 
tional obligations, to maintain unimpaired and unimpeached the honor and the 
faith of the Republic. 

9 "It is the duty of the National Government to recognize the services of 
the Federal soldiers and s.iilor-; in the contest just closed by meeting promptly 
all their just and rightful claims for the services they have rendered the Nation, 
and by extending to those of them who have survived, and to the widows and 
orphans of those who have fallen, most generous and considerate care." 



20 THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 

dered doubly sure, by the light which the New Orleans mur- 
ders cast upon the baleful tendency of the Executive policy ; 
as also by the startling revelation which the stumping" pilgrim- 
age to the grave of Douglas afforded of the political temper 
and discretion of its authors. 

Of this melancholy, we had almost said hideous, spectacle 
upon which the nation was compelled to gaze for two long 
weeks, we shall allow ourselves to say but very little ; it pains 
us deeply to have to say a word. But silence in this case 
would be disloyalty to the Christian character of the country, 
and to the moral dignity and honor of the Presidential office. 
Government is ord;iined of God ; and if those w^ho are en- 
trusted with its exalted and awful functions by the free suf- 
frage of their fellow-citizens, publicly descend from their high 
position to the level of the vulgar wrangler, the incendiary 
demagogue, the boastful and railing egotist, or the clown 
and postprandial jester, they merit and should receive the 
sternest rebuke ; for they desecrate a divine institution, as 
w^ell as bring disgrace upon the cause of republican liberty. 
The American people have never before been called to bow 
the head so low in shame and sorrow for the conduct of 
their Chief Magistrate ; we trust they will never be called 
to do it again. One such humiliation ought to be enough 
for all time. It is a sad thing to say, that the most 
charitable construction which can be put upon the con- 
duct and language of both actors in this shocking exhibition, 
is to suppose them not to have been always sober, or in their 
right mind. How otherwise could they so forget themselves, 
or attribute such political and moral idiocy to the Christian 
people of the North, as to have ventured to address them in 
such a s-tyle ; still more to expect, by such language, to change 
their honest and profound convictions respecting great ques- 
tions of public duty and policy? We lament beyond measure 
the effect of this evil example in arousing the angrj' passions 
and intensifying the bitterness of party strife. Is it not one 
office of our Chief Magistrate and Ministers of State to illus- 
trate by word as well as deed, in the presence of the people 



THE POLITICAL CKISIS. 21 

as well as in the cabinet, the (lignity, self-possession, modera- 
tion, and high-toned courtcj^y, which belong to the idea of a 
Christian Republic? And Ave cannot be sufficiently thank- 
ful that in the midst of even the repulsive scenes upon which 
we have animadverted, there appeared — most unwillingly, we 
doubt not — two illustrious servants of the country — irs great- 
est soldier and its greatest sailor — who wellfultillcd thisgrand 
office. How expressive the very silence of Grant and Farra- 
gut, in contrast with the miserable noise and confusion that' 
surrounded them ! 

We have written these things with heartfelt regret and sor- 
row ; for they concern men who have heretofore rendered em- 
inent services to their country, and to the cause of liberty. 
We gladly leave a subject so ungrateful, and pass on to say a 
word of the other Philadelphia Convention, which met on the 
3d of September. 

The records of this remarkable gathering are bef )re the 
country, and we need not go into details respecting it. The 
Northern people listened eagerly to its voice, have calmly pon- 
dered its statements, and will, in due time, make their own re- 
sponse to its pathetic and manly appeal. It was an assemblage 
as impressive as it was unique in American history. Its story 
sounded like a chapter from the old martyrologies of Christian 
faith and liberty, while its addresses and resolutions carried 
one back to the Declaration of Independence, and the "times 
that tried men's souls." How different in all respects from 
the Confederate portion of the Convention that preceded it ! 
That was largely composed of Southerners, who had done their 
utmost to tear to tatters the Flag of our Country ; this, of South- 
erners who hadsu,:ered shame and loss for their unfaltering al- 
legiance to that glorious flag. The one represented chielly 
the old slave-holding aristocracy and wealth of the South ; 
the other represented its poor, plain people, its " mean whites," 
and its four millions of negroes. The former uttered what had 
been prepared for it by the calculating politicians who called 
and " run " it, and was allowed to utter nothing else ; the 
latter was, at all events, a council of unmuzzled freemen, each 



22 THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 

speaking what w;is in his heart. The one deemed it a great 
achievement to have kept out Mr. Vallandigham and Mr. 
Fernando Wood ; the other had a colored man among its dele- 
gates, was proud to welcome Frederick Douglas to its floor, and 
listened with delight to his manly and powerful eloquence. An- 
drew Johnson had the unbounded admiration of the one, 
Abraham Lincoln seemed to be enshrined in the grateful love 
9,nd veneration of the other ; and while the former adjourned 
to meet again in the White House, and there offer incense to 
its idol, the latter adjourned to meet again around the grave 
where repose the mortal remains of our martyred President. 
There was not in all the South a man still cherishing the spirit 
of the rebellion, who did not rejoice greatly in the August 
Convention, how much soever he may have scorned the thought 
of being bound by its pledges, or of assenting to its doctrines ; 
nor was there in all the South such a man, who did not regard 
the September Convention with mingled contempt, hatred and 
fear. Are all these strange contrasts accidental? or do they 
not rather express deep afiinities, and fundamental principles 
of political right and wrong? 

There was only one point of serious difference among tlie 
members of the September Convention, viz., the question of im- 
partial or negro suffrage ; and even on that point the difference 
related rather to the time and mode than to the principle it- 
self. Most of the delegates from the border States were un- 
willing to assert the principle at once, and put it into the plat- 
form ; while most of the delegates from the "unreconstructed 
States" were not only ready to assert the principle and put it 
into the platform, but they maintained that their political sal- 
vation and that of the whole South which they represented — 
the Union men during the war, the poor whites, and the col- 
ored population — absolutely depended upon its bold assertion 
and early realization. And certainly no candid person can read 
their argument and statements in support of this opinion, 
without feeling their overwhelming force. Without ap- 
proving of everything that wi-.s said, we believe the effect of 
the Convention will be to enlighten the public mind on this 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 23 

momentous question, to remove prejuilice, and so to hasten tlio 
day when the mere color of .his skin shall debar no American 
citizen from the rij^ht and privilege of the ballcjt-box. That 
day is sure to come. The logic of our democratic institutions, 
the inexorable logic of events, and the calm reason and justice 
of the nation will combine to bring it to pass without fail. And 
why should anybody be afraid of that day? Even President 
Johnson fully acknowledges the principle and the wisdom of 
putting it in practice, in his dispatch to Provisional Governor 
Sharkey, of Mississippi, dated August 15, 1865, in which, re- 
ferring to the State Convention, he says : " If you could ex- 
tend the elective franchise to all persons of color who can read 
the Constitution of the United States in English, and write 
their names, and to all persons of color who own real estate 
valued at not less than two hundred and fifty dollars, and pay 
taxes thereon, you would completely disarm the adversary 
and set an example the other States will follow. This you can 
do ivith perfect safety. ^^ And if it could be done in Mississippi 
" with perfect safety " in August, 1865, when the w'ar was hardly 
over, it certainly could be done now " with perfect safety" in 
every Southern State, and (alas ! th it it needs to be added) in 
every Northern State wdiich is still enthralled to the cruel 
prejudices begotten of slavery and caste. 

Let this question of impartial suffrage and the political rights 
of the colored citizen be settled in accordance with the funda- 
mental principles of American society ; and then — the Constitu- 
tional Amendment having been adopted, and enforced by appro- 
priate legislation — we cannot doubt that peace and prosperity 
would soon prevail throughout all our borders, and that all classes 
and conditions and races of men among us would rejoice together 
in the blessings of a new era of Christian light and liberty. 
In the enjoyment of such blessings the bitter memories of the 
war would gradually fade away, the antipathies and rivalries 
of North and South would cease, and the whole nation, re- 
vering the merciful hand of God in the past, even in the bloody 
conflicts of the battle-field, would march forward on the line of 
its great destiny with exultant hope, trusting still to the guid- 



24 THE POLITICAL CRISIS. 

ance of that merciful and almighty Hand. A consummation so 
devoutly to be wished will not, indeed, come of mere legisla- 
tion, however wise and beneficient ; all the agencies of Chris- 
tian faith and philanthrop}^, untiring prayers, every form of 
pious labor and self-sacrifice, the pulpit, the press, the church, 
the school, innumerable men, women and children even, who 
love Christ and His cause, must be added to complete and 
crown the glorious work. These heaven-born agencies are al- 
ready busy with their part of the divine task. Let Christian 
patriotism and statesmanship do their part also, both at the 
ballot-box and in the council chamber ; let political and reli- 
gious wisdom and zeal thus conspire together ; and who can re- 
fuse to believe that God, even our fathers' God, will be mer- 
ciful unto us, and bless us, and make His face to shine upon 
us, as never before ; or that the end thereof will be peace and 
assurance forever? Then shall come to pass in this great Re- 
public the prophetic words, written thousands of years ago 
among the hills of Palestine : In righteousness shalt thou be 
established ; thou shalt be far from oppression ; for thou shalt 
not fear ; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. 
Thou shalt know that I, the Lord, am thy Saviour and thy Re- 
deemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, 
and for iron 1 will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for 
stones iron. I will also make thine officers peace and thine 
exactors righteousness ; violence shall no more be heard in thy 
land, wasting and destruction within thy borders ; but thou 
shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. 



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